


this is all there is (that's worth believing in)

by jessicamiriamdrew



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Gen, Jewish Character, Rosh HaShana | Jewish New Year, a little bit more implied / pre than actual but it's there!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 19:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16980303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicamiriamdrew/pseuds/jessicamiriamdrew
Summary: “Did we win a contest, or did we lose one?” Joan asks, staring at the piles of apples on their kitchen table. She hopes it’s a contest they lost so they can donate all of these apples to a food kitchen. She’ll snag a few of each type, but even if they try their damndest, they can’t eat this many apples before they go bad.Sherlock steps back from the counter, revealing another stack of apples.“I’m conducting an experiment, Watson,” Sherlock says, carefully clutching a recipe card.





	this is all there is (that's worth believing in)

**Author's Note:**

> i was thinking about s5 as i wrote this, but i don't think it's spoilery for it. 
> 
> Sherlock is Jewish now Because I Said So, (see the end notes)

Joan steps into the kitchen of the brownstone warily--a sure bet, on any day, but there’s more noise than usual.

There are also about fifty apples of at least ten different varietals, and that’s just with a casual assessment.

“Did we win a contest, or did we lose one?” Joan asks, staring at the piles of apples on their kitchen table. She hopes it’s a contest they lost so they can donate all of these apples to a food kitchen. She’ll snag a few of each type, but even if they try their damndest, they can’t eat this many apples before they go bad.

Sherlock steps back from the counter, revealing another stack of apples.

“I’m conducting an experiment, Watson,” Sherlock says, carefully clutching a recipe card.

“For which apple makes the best kind of pie?” Joan moves forward to grab a red delicious from the table. “That’s about all these are good for anyway.”

“Nothing so American as that,” Sherlock says, and Joan rolls her eyes.

Even though she knows exactly how this apple will taste, the shininess of the coat is almost enough to convince her to take a bite. She demurs and sets it back down on the table before her eyes make a decision her mouth will regret.

“I found my mother’s recipe for apple crumble, and since it’s almost Rosh Hashanah, I thought I would make some.”

“I didn’t realize--” Joan starts to say.

“That I’m Jewish?” Sherlock asks, arching an eyebrow at her.

The recipe card crinkles slightly, and Joan looks to see how Sherlock’s hands are grasping it tighter, like he thinks she might take it from him.

“Okay, first of all, you did train me as a detective, so I obviously knew that your mother was Jewish, but you also don’t talk about her or being Jewish at all.” 

Joan doesn’t bring up his mother, ergo, there’s little occasion for her to mention Sherlock being Jewish.

Sherlock’s posture relaxes slightly, dropping the smallest amount of tension that he’d been carrying.

“I didn’t realize that Rosh Hashanah was so soon,” Joan finishes.

Sherlock thrusts the recipe card at her, which she takes with delicate hands. She isn’t a graphologist, and so maybe it’s wistful thinking, but the soft letters that were written by Sherlock’s mother remind her of Sherlock’s own writing.

He has turned from her and is digging through the stack of apples, probably searching for the mythical perfect one. Joan smiles at his back; it’s nice to see him fixated on something that isn’t a murder.

“The holidays are the same time every year, Joan.” An apple or two thump to the kitchen floor as if to punctuate the fact that they do indeed occur on the exact same dates each year.

“So why all the apples?” The recipe says they need six apples, not a multiple of that.

Sherlock bends down and grabs the apples that have fallen, and carefully sets them back in their respective piles.

“The recipe doesn’t say what type of apple.”

Joan scans the card again; she was certain it did say. “It says six of the best apples.”

A kitchen chair scrapes on the floor, and when Sherlock sits, she takes it as a cue to do the same in the other chair.

“One year we went to the store and picked out one of each apple varietal,” Sherlock says. “We tried each one and judged them with specific criteria.”

With Sherlock’s brain and the prevalence of olfactory memories, Joan is almost certain that when he looks at the table, he’s not in the brownstone at all.

“The winning apple,” Sherlock continues, “was purchased in bulk and we then made enough apple crumble and cake that we could give it away at synagogue.”

“That’s a very logical process,” Joan says, gently placing the recipe card on the table. 

Sherlock catches her gaze and the ache in his eyes makes her want to do something foolish. Joan touches his hand, grazes her knuckles against his open palm. 

His other hand covers hers, a moment that allows her some ease. Maybe, in this new year, they can continue this inexorable path to someplace new.

“You’re my partner, Joan,” Sherlock says, pulling his hands away. “Which means you’re expected to provide feedback on apples.”

“Okay,” she says. “Show me where to begin.” 

Sherlock tosses her an apple and Joan doesn’t try to hide her smile.

**Author's Note:**

> tbh, I think Sherlock being Jewish adds an interesting facet to his character. I don't think he'd be religious-but you can be Jewish and observe traditions without belief in God. I think a lot about the relationship of Sherlock and his mother, and the way hes built up her memory. This is in addition to his bad relationship with his father...i do think it would make his relationship with Judaism incredibly complicated.
> 
> Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year, if you're confused by that! I always make apple crumble at RH. I did write this then, and yes I know it's now after Channukah. 5779 has been busy.
> 
> title is from 'i can't love' by dawes
> 
> also playing around with writing the two of them. anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
